Just another happy rag by one of them broads.

The Artful Eye Images number 5.

Well, hello, my bright little fireflies. Are you all as chipper and happy and wide awake as I am this morning? Yeah, sure you are, because I am not. Not yet anyway. Not until I have downed this large mug of Senseo and smoked this most excellent cigarette. Then I will be, I hope.

A large mug of Senseo is made with two pads and that makes the coffee extra strong, which I like very much, as I like everything in abundance, including my coffee. It is also extra foamy, which makes it a real treat and makes me think I am having a double cappuchino in a café somewhere other than at home. Oh, I do like my early morning fantasies. I can pretend I am in Paris, the city where I am supposed to be according to yesterday’s test, and I am sitting in a café there surrounded by Parisiens who are rapidly speaking, “blah, blah, blah, et tu?” “Moi aussie!” We are all having espressos and cappuchinos and pain au chocolat and we are all merry and gay and off to a very good start of the day.

I always imagine French people having much more interesting lives than we do, because they do it all in French with so much body language and facial expressions, that it must always be more dramatic than it is in Dutch, which is a very low key language and very sensible and frugal. I imagine the French lead much more electrifying lives than we do and I also imagine also sorts of theatrical high lights in their day, punctuated by long lunches and dinners with bottles of wine and good food. I wonder how a Frenchman rates his quality of life compared to the ordinary Dutchman? I bet in France the emphasis is on enjoyment, where as here it is on achievement. Maybe I am really in the wrong country and I should be living in the Provence, but my French is insufficient and I would be hopelessly dependent on Eduard whose French is nearly flawless.

So, enough of that fantasy and I will be a sensible Dutch woman again, albeit a rather odd one with one leg in the United States now and then, and her language split between two Germanic ones, one of them being Anglo-Saxon of origin and the other one being related to old German. Funnily, I am Saxon of origin on both sides of my family tree and feel a great deal of connectedness with both branches of my ancestry and I also like the landscape of my origins, which is one of low lying moors and heath and forests and foggy mornings and snowy winters.

I am way too romantic, aren’t I, but romantic in the sense that I am also a sensible Dutch woman and keep both feet in the heavy clay of the country of my birth and do not go flying off into too complicated fantasies as I did when I was younger and not directly connected to this country any longer. When I lived in California, which should be called “the dream state” and which makes people think they can be anything at all and wish for impossible dreams to come true when they only do for some of them. I have never felt such disconnectedness with reality as I felt when I lived there.

Last night I dreamed that my daughter lived in New Mexico in a very large round and deep canyon and the road into it was narrow and perilous. I and my whole family, mother, father, sisters, son, went there and we looked up at the sky above us and saw it in a great big round circle and it was bright blue. The cats had gone with us, I don’t think Jesker did. My daughter lived in a house that only had bedrooms and we had some difficulty dividing up the beds. Her husband was a big shot Wall Street broker, who needed my (non existent) credit card to make deals for me. There was one way down into the canyon and maybe one way back up, but I never saw it, because then my dream was over and I woke up. What to make of it?

I think it was about death and the afterlife and how we are all united in a place that is meaningful to us and it is a place that is individual to each person. I have been to New Mexico and saw the canyons there and the pueblos and the mesas. And the big blue endless sky. It made quite an impression on me and I thought I might like to return as a Navajo woman and raise my children well, but how could I, a woman of Saxon origin, return as a Navajo woman and be part of that landscape, even though I was so attracted to it? There was a stillness in it that was very appealing and a wideness that was almost scary, it was so large and empty, but then again, a canyon is a sheltered place to be and safe and secluded. So it could be possible.

Well, now, let’s get back to reality as it is and leave that dream back there in the night where it belongs. No doubt a lesson has been learned from it, but now I must think about today, because yesterday was so uneventful, that if I tell you nothing about it, you won’t have missed a thing.

Oh goodness, I almost forgot something very important. Omega Mum has given me some awards. One was the “Keep Up The Good Work Blog Award” which I already have, but the other one I didn’t have and it is this one:However, I do not know its meaning or function and I must look it up…It was created by someone named Colin and you can find out more about it here. Anyway, thank you very much Omega Mum, for often keeping me in mind when handing out awards and I do so appreciate them very much. I will have a think about this award and decide who I will give this too, although you are all bloggers of the world and you all should have one.

You Make a Great First Impression

You can handle almost any social situation with grace, even the tricky ones.

Strangers often find you charming and interesting. You are often remembered fondly.

Even if you’re not naturally outgoing, you can make conversation with anyone if you need to.

Whether you were born this way or had to work to get here, you are definitely charismatic.

You’re popular and well liked. People definitely look forward to being around you.

Your social connections bring you a full and rich life. You understand how important it is to make a lasting impression.

I don’t know how much stock to put into the above, but let’s pretend it is so and I am not the shy and silent person that I think I am and I really am sociable and conversant, which you must all think I am. So good, keep on thinking that!

Now I have to get going, I need to get dressed and do some work around here, not having done much on the undescribed yesterday. Have a lovely day, all of you. Make something nice of it, as they say here. Ciao…

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15 Responses

I like your Paris fantasy. I’ve been to Paris, and had strong coffee on the terraces outside the cafes. (It cost a bit, mind, £5, or the equivalent, and that was a long time ago). So Paris and coffee are fixed in my mind too.

As for your dream, I think it means you think your daughter is doing well (she has married a broker, after all) and in the place that is beautiful to you; with the wide open skies, the possibilties are endless. You have done well to raise such a daughter!

Lovely image, again – also funny post – a daily double whammy. You are an award magnet, if you go to a county fair I am sure you wil come home with a blue ribbon glued to the backside of your dress.

It is the middle of February and it is over fifty degrees F (not celcius)here, although rainy. A northern cardinal was singing outside – the first I have heard this 2008. Cardinals are common in our neighborhood, but lovely – the male in all its splendor and the female like one of your mandalas – pastel earth tones that glow softly like sweet gentle embers.

I love Paris and though I don’t speak more than a few words of French (and very poorly at that), I would love to take an extended vacation there, just to see if living amongst the French was as lovely as visiting them.

Good day! Made.. moi..selle, Irene. Now that I have settled with my cup of joe I can relax and visit.

I’ve travelled most of Central and Northern France and found the French quite reserved and tame in comparison to the Italians. Now maybe I’m a bit partial due to the fact I’m a first generation Italiano. I invite you to spend an afternoon at my crazy Italian household with my mother,father and my sisters, eating pasta, breaking bread and drinking wine in the same room where you won’t get in word in sideways,hands flailing to the left and the right. I promise you will never be the same, in a good way.

I too love New Mexico. This is truly a beautiful spot and I can see why you might have dreams of this place because I can’t shake my memories of New Mexico either. The beautiful Sangre de Cristo range.

Did you have a chance to visit Bryce Canyon, Utah when you lived in the states? My husband, Gerard and I recently took a road trip of Nevada desert, Arizona, and Utah and when I happened upon Bryce I had felt like I had witnessed heaven on earth. This is my new dream place.

I would love to see the landscape of your origin. I am sure it is quite beautiful. Gerard and I are planning a trip to Northern Europe in the next year or so.

Congratulations on your latest award!

I love what you did to my mermaiden acrylic block. This mandala has a vintage quality and tone and I forgot to mention that I also like your new slide show.

What application do you use to manipulate these images? Won’t you tell.

I traveled to Paris my first year of college and miss the coffee and crusty baguettes still.

In fact I’ve just recently decided I missed it enough! I found a pen pal in Paris online and have been corresponding with him and loving the connection to Paris again in my life! The fact that he is a sweet young 25 year old only makes it better, don’t you think?

Hi! I wondered if you were dreaming of Bryce or Zion. I’m meant to live in Paris too, according to your survey. Perhaps we would live in nearby flats, meeting for coffee (a la Coco’s???) or whilst fetching a baguette. L.

Oh Now I know why your english is so perfect. You have had a very interesting life i see. I would love to visit all these places you metioned. I do know Paris well. I went there 4 times and absolutely adore it. i totally agree about the French They’ve got something charming about them. I feel as I am in a movy when I am there. Au revoir irene.

I love Paris, and cannot wait to go back there again. My husband Noel lived there for 5 years, before I knew him, and like your Eduard speaks fluent French. However, he has told me that while French sounds so beautiful and interesting, people there are really saying the same kinds of things that people say anywhere.

And as for fireflies, which you have reminded me of, they do not exist in Southern California. When I learned of this before I moved here, I was deeply disturbed. And I miss them every summer!

As usual, you have entertained me greatly with your wonderful writing style. Thank you for the great stories and insight, Irene! I hope you have a great day today.

I am sorry to hear you feel sad Irene…you said you needed a needed a little bird to flit over and say ‘cheer up, cheer up’ so here I am. I also have a little something kinda cozy looking for you on my blog:)